PM Modi to visit Tokyo to attend Quad Summit

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Tokyo to attend the 4th Quad Summit on May 24, it was announced on Thursday.

During this visit, Modi will also hold bilateral meetings with his Japanese, and Australian counterparts, Fumio Kishida and Scott Morrison, and US President Joe Biden on the same day, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

“The summit in Tokyo is the fourth interaction of Quad leaders since their first virtual meeting in March 2021, the in-person summit in Washington last September and the third meeting held virtually in March this year,” he said.

Quad is a key multilateral alliance consisting of India, Japan, Australia, and the US to ensure a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific region.

“The forthcoming Quad summit provides an opportunity for the leaders to exchange views about developments in the Indo-Pacific region and on contemporary global issues of mutual interest,” Bagchi added.

In his meeting with Kishida, both leaders will get an opportunity to carry forward their conversations from the 14th Japan-Indian Annual Summit that was held in Delhi this year.

The Indian PM will participate in the Business Summit, and also address the Indian diaspora in Japan.

Modi will also meet Biden wherein the two leaders are expected to review the Indo-US strategic partnership, Bagchi said.

“The meeting will mark the continuation of the regular dialogue having interacted most recently in virtual mode on April 11 this year.”

“The two leaders are expected to review the India-US strategic partnership and follow up on discussions held during the Prime Minister’s bilateral meeting with President Biden last September. They will also exchange views on regional and global developments of shared interest,” Bagchi added.

In Modi’s meeting with Morrison, Bagchi said that the “two leaders, we would hope, would look at reviewing the India-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership and exchange views on issues of both global and regional developments”.

The last meeting between the two was held virtually on March 21 following which India-Australia economic cooperation and trade agreement was signed on April 2.